This application relates to and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-397764 filed on Dec. 27, 2000, No. 2001-13266 filed on Jan. 22, 2001, No. 2001-129024 filed on Apr. 26, 2001, and No. 2001-329795 filed on Oct. 26, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor, more specifically, a motor having a speed reducing mechanism and a control circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
A motor having a speed reducing mechanism is generally used as a drive source of a power window system of a vehicle. In such a motor, a motor unit is connected to a speed-reducing unit that reduces rotational speed of the motor unit. Further, a control circuit board is accommodated in the motor.
The motor unit includes a yoke housing, which accommodates an armature, magnets and the like. The speed-reducing unit includes a resin-made gear housing that accommodates the speed-reducing mechanism. The yoke housing and the gear housing are connected and fixed to each other with screws. Further, a circuit board housing, which accommodates the control circuit board, is fixed to the gear housing. The circuit board housing having the control circuit board is assembled to the gear housing after the yoke housing and the gear housing are assembled together. Since the assembling process of the circuit board housing is conducted separately from the assembling process of the gear housing and the yoke housing, the entire assembling process of the motor is tedious and time consuming.
The present invention is made in view of the above disadvantage, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a motor, which includes a motor unit, a gear unit and a control circuit board and allows easier assembly of the motor.
To achieve the objective of the present invention, there is provided a motor that includes a motor unit and a speed reducing unit connected together. The motor unit has a rotatable shaft, and the speed reducing unit has a speed reducing mechanism for reducing rotational speed of the rotatable shaft and a control circuit board for controlling rotation of the motor unit. The speed reducing unit has a gear housing that includes a circuit board receiving portion and an opening. The opening of the gear housing faces the motor unit and is communicated with the circuit board receiving portion. The control circuit board is inserted in the circuit board receiving portion of the gear housing through the opening of the gear housing in an axial direction of the rotatable shaft in such a manner that the control circuit board is clamped between the motor unit and the speed reducing unit when the motor unit and the speed reducing unit are assembled and connected together.
To achieve the objective of the present invention, there may be alternatively provided a motor that includes a motor unit and a speed reducing unit connected together. The motor unit has a rotatable shaft, and the speed reducing unit has a speed reducing mechanism for reducing rotational speed of the rotatable shaft and a control circuit board for controlling rotation of the motor unit. The speed reducing unit has a gear housing that includes a circuit board receiving portion and an opening. The opening of the gear housing faces the motor unit and is communicated with the circuit board receiving portion. The motor unit includes a cover that covers the opening of the gear housing. The cover includes a plurality of motor-side connecting terminals for receiving electrical power supply to the motor unit. The control circuit board includes a plurality of board-side connecting terminals electrically connected to the motor-side connecting terminals.